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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 23, 1990)
The Battalion OPINION Monday, April 23,1990 Opinion Page Editor Ellen Hobbs Environmental efforts must last past Earth Day Earth Day has come and gone, and yet the Earth is still not saved. I have been really impressed by the number of people that have given Earth Day attention this year. People really seem to have gotten excited about trying to protect our planet from ourselves, and that’s a commendable thing to get excited about. But the real test now is to see if we can keep up that excitement after Earth Day is over. Sure, recycling one day a year is nice, but being enviromentally aware 365 days a year is the only way cool things like Earth Day will ever make a difference. It doesn’t take that much time or effort to be enviromentally aware. If we change a few habits, we can make a big difference. I scanned through some literature and books at the Earth Day Fair at Research Park on Sunday and found these examples of easy ways to protect the planet: • We’ve got to start recycling everything we can, of course. We can recycle aluminum, rigid plastic, paper and glass. It’s only slightly more difficult to take your garbage to a recycling bin than it is to take it to the dumpster or the curb, and it’s well worth the effort. • When they ask you “Paper or plastic?” in the supermarket, say “Neither!” We all have backpacks or reusable bags we can take with us to the supermarket, so let’s use them. And you can buy special net or string bags made just for grocery shopping. • Ride bikes or walk when you can. Or use a skateboard, go on horseback 01 do anything else that doesn’t involve combustion engines that create pollution and use natural resources. You might also save yourself some parking tickets. • Buy butter and margarine wrapped in paper instead of plastic tubs. Not only will you help the environment, but you’ll save yourself some money, too. • Don’t flush the toilet as much. You’ve heard the old saying: “If it’s yellow let it mellow; if it’s brown, flush it down.” If the average person cut his flushing in half, he’d save 16.5 gallons of water a day. • Don’t leave the water running constantly while you brush your teeth or shave. It’s just another waste of good water. • Use white paper. It’s more expensive to recycle colored papers like yellow legal pads or blue steno pads. • Buy retreads instead of getting new tires for your car. You won’t be getting a poor quality tire: Most retreads last about 90 percent as long new tires. If every tire was retreaded once, the demand for sythetic rubber would be drop to two-thirds of what it is now and the need for tire disposal facildes would be cut in half. • Don’t wash your car at home. Take it to a carwash where it is easier to conserve water, and where the pollutants that are rinsed off your car will run down the drain instead of seeping into the groundwater. • Styrofoam can’t be recycled, so avoid using it. Get eggs in paper cartons, and get the butcher to wrap the meat, poultry and fish you buy in paper Be kind to your Aggie bus driver Sherrian K. Edwards Reader’s Opinion We’ve all seen them. Those sleek white and maroon machines that silently and effortlessly exit and enter the Texas A&M campus to deposit and retrieve students as they go about their daily lives. OK! OK! OK! We’re on planet Earth ad this is Aggieland. As a driver of these state-of-the-art mechanical devices I spend four to seven hours a day driving in circles around Texas A&M and I continuously have to remind myself that the “kids” here are college students. Where is it written that staring at a bus driver lets him or her know you want the bus to wait for you? No, folks, this doesn’t cut it. When a massive object is in motion everyone within 50 feet stares in case they have to jump out of the way. Simply raising one’s hand and waving at the driver will give rise to the suspicion that you want to ride the bus. Waving arms, legs, backpacks and/or purses will get a bus driver’s attention. You, the waver, get a free workout in the process. No more giving up the lunch hour to run. Just flag down the bus or do it for a friend. Additionally, if you wish to depart these lovely buses at an approaching stop, simply let the driver know before the stop. A couple of tons of bus cannot be stopped when in full motion within a few inches of the bus stop after you’ve made your wishes known. A bus is not a compact car. It takes a couple of feet to stop all that weight. Every bus driver is trained for their job. That training includes service to passengers who want to ride. Drivers make it a point to look for people who want to ride the bus. We ride these buses home and around the campus the same as non-drivers. However, how would you deal with a person who is taking their time to board a full bus and is making no effort to let the bus be on its way? Or how about a passenger who has to finish up the last bit of gossip with a friend while standing in the door of a bus while the other Battalion File Photo passengers wait? The buses have assigned schedules to follow and time allotments to complete each round, so if no one is waiting at a bus stop and no one voices their preference for that stop, there is no reason to stop the bus. The bus system is for riders, so assist the drivers in know your intentions if you want to enter or exit a bus. We’re more than willing to stop. It’s amazing the people who cannot find their voices or wave arms until after the bus has passed them up. Sherrian K. Edwards is a graduate student in anthropology. instead of getting it wrapped in plastic on a Styrofoam tray. • Avoid using disposable cups, plates and utensils made of plastic or Styrofoam. If you do use disposable housewares, use paper. Better yet, don’t use disposable housewares at all. • Don’t use paper towels when you both sides of the paper. Usedoublt I ^ sided photocopying instead ofsinjl . oSt iu sided. If you’re using a computer l (|i print your data until you’re suretfe ready — do all your editing on tbe screen. Save your copy of yourworf a disk instead of on paper. AUS • Use mechanical pencils and refillable ink pens. D, 'on’t wash your car at home. Take it to a carwash where it is easier to conserve water, and where the pollutants that are rinsed off your car will run down the drain instead of seeping into the groundwater. ises i des t< mpai “In n noi ents this " omen jte,” s ate T mate Rich It didn’t take me much time toco! these suggestions, and it wouldn’ttal Jjabl anyone long to implement thein.fc jrnissi some literature and come upwithioi >py r i§ own ideas. Get together with your friends and take your garbagetobe recycled on a regular basis. could use cloth ones. Cloth dish towels are inexpensive and you can easily toss them into your laundry. • Save paper. When you’re assigned a paper, ask your instructor not to require a cover page. Take notes on Don’t feel satisfied with committiji yourself to working for the environment for one day a year and then skipping out, leaving theplaneii a cloud of dust and carbon monoxidt Make keeping the environment heal! a habit, not just something you do on Earth Day. lan, disco utes. Bj Ellen Hobbs is a junior journalism major. Mail Call 3ySE/ )flhe Album ratings useful guide for parents EDITOR: As a parent, I want to know what my children are listening to without ha: ing to sit through an entire album. This only makes it easier for nietom itor. All we are talking about is the placement of a sticker on the album jadei (not the shrink wrap) to inform us of the contents. We have these warningsod other harmful substances; what would be the difference here? I fear that you have been listening to the shrill bleatings of the liberals and their reliance on those old cliches again, rather than thinking for yourselves If your heroes are Mr. Jello and Frank Z., that’s fine. But to hear you tal about “First Amendment rights” and “mind muzzling” is laughable. They only that their product brings in the bucks, no matter what the cost. Gary Gaither Agricultural education Summer employment seminar a ‘sham’ EDITOR: This letter is addressed to both the Placement Center*and the Cch fice. At issue is the “Summer Employment Opportunities for Liberal Arts Ma jors” meeting they had April 11. Their so-called “meeting” was the biggest sham I’ve ever witnessed. For starters, the one representative that showed up was 15 minutes late and was clueless as to what was going on. Not one summer employment opportunity was mentioned; in fact, “representative” told us in no uncertain terms that we were too late fora mer job. If all they’ve got for undergraduate students is the “three alternating semesters” program, they should go ahead and say sex. Don’t waste my and many other people’s time trying to feed us your favor ite co-op propaganda. Greg Damron ’91 Commons parking situation confusing EDITOR: Recently, I asked a friend if I could borrow his VGR. To my delight,he said that I could, and since I do not have a car here at A&M, he was gracious enough to bring it over to my dorm on campus. The problem occurred later, however, when I found out that while he parked in the drive just south of the Commons, he had received a parking ticket. It had taken him all of 15 minutes to drop off the VCR, and then leave, I realize that there have been many letters complaining about the on campus and most are justified. However, unlike many, I offer a for at least this one drive. If there are cars parked on both sides of the drive, then there isajustifia ble problem of traffic control. My solution is simple: Have one side illegalto park on, and the other a 30 minute drop-off zone. Any way that onelooksai it, it is just another prime example of this LJniversity's organized confusion. Alan Tansey ’92 Have an opinion? Express it! Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the light to edil Itllie for style and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author's intent. There is no guaranteetkt letters submitted will be printed. Each letter must be signed and must include the classification, addressd telephone number of the writer. All letters may be brought to 216 Reed McDonald, or sent to Campus Md Stop 1111. The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of T exas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference T he Battalion Editorial Board Scot Walker, Editor Monique Threadgill, Managing Editor Ellen Hobbs, Opinion Page Editor Melissa Naumann, City Editor Cindy McMillian, Lisa Robertson, News Editors Richard Tijerina, Sports Editor Fredrick D. Joe, Art Director Mary-Lynne Rice, Lifestyles Editor Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-sup porting newspaper operated as a commu nity service to Texas A&M and Bryan- College Station. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editorial board or the au thor, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, faculty or the Boat d of Regents'. The Battalion is published Monday through Friday during T exas A&M regu lar semesters, except for holiday and ex amination periods. Mail subscriptions are $20 per semes ter, $40 per school year and $50 per full year. Advertising rates furnished on re quest. Our address: The Battalion, 230 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, Col lege Station, TX 77843-1111. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. POSTMASTF.R: Send address changes to The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, College Station TX 77843-4111. ' Adventures In Cartooning by Don Atkinson Ji Dn Pos “I’ve ue Althi now al eum h Ranc :oordir ven kr nuseui "Mos rised i nuseur s supp- Jrazos earn v letter.” Smitl its pi rest fo nuseur nore tf nation aid. 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